


𝙒𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨!

by QueenCamellia



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Isekai, Original Character(s), Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24479308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCamellia/pseuds/QueenCamellia
Summary: 𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘬𝘢𝘪 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺—𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦! 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧With world destruction looming on the horizon, six heroes from other worlds have been summoned to Drosscora, land of the remembered. It’s the typical set-up to any good isekai series, no?“Wrong! I already survived an entire light novel series, damn it! Why do I have to do this again?!”Meet the crew:Toon, from the best-seller “Even though I'm a Demon Lord, I swear I'm a Good Person!"Markkoo, from the beloved “The Genius Alchemist is a Workaholic”Nyamai, from the hit series “This Cute Swordswoman is Super OP?!”Echo, from the series that’s been adapted into an anime, “Even as a Shy Cleric, I want to be in Love!”Hulo, from the critically-acclaimed ”This immortal hero wants to be your friend, Mr. Demon Lord!”Camellia, from the serialized “This banished villainess’ punishment is being cancelled?!”It’s a fresh new start for these heroes! (...or is it?)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	𝙒𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨!

**Author's Note:**

> Webnovel??? for my IECB team! Check out this video:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZQXlpH8Y14

Three seconds.

Three seconds, and the world he’d known had been ripped away from him again. 

Toon had barely enough time to register that an all-too-familiar light was approaching before it engulfed him, bathing his surroundings in pure white. The palace that he’d become accustomed to—his dominion, his _home_ —was washed over _(cleansed, lost, torn from him)_ in that light, just as he was, and then…

...he was gone.

Warmth. Cold. All sensations faded away in that flurry of light, and suddenly, he could feel himself falling, _falling—_

_(Where to, he wonders. It’s barely a moment, yet somehow, his fall feels like eternity.)_

Faces flashed in his mind. Toon had never considered himself to be a _great_ leader, as his subjects had claimed, but he had made himself a niche in that world. He’d made it into his home as much as Earth had been.

Earth...what a funny thought. He hadn’t bothered to think about his old world, the first life he’d left behind, since he made a vow to protect the demonfolk as their Lord. There had been too many things to focus on: rebuilding demon villages torn from war, fostering new connections with the humans, brokering peace between his nation and others, and managing his subjects.

There had been so much to do that he hadn’t paid a single thought to that place.

No, rather, he couldn’t focus on that place. If Toon had thought about the people he left behind on Earth, he wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to move forward. A Demon Lord had to act decisively, and there was no time for him to reminisce about a world and a home he could no longer reach.

And now…

...two homes, lost to him.

He wondered, as he fell, how the friends he’d made in Runestadt would fare without him. They would mourn his loss, but...ultimately, they would move on.

Surprisingly, that thought made him glad. 

_They’ll be fine._

He closed his eyes, embracing the light: let it take him wherever it wanted him to go.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

The place Toon landed in was neither heaven nor hell, nor any variation of the afterlife that he’d heard of during both of his lives.

It was a breathtaking world—one not unlike Earth, in fact, though there were two sunsets that he could vaguely make out in the horizon. He still felt the same, and with a quick glance down at his attire, Toon didn’t think he’d radically changed appearances as he had when being transported from Earth to Runestadt.

There was a tree, he noted. It was gigantic, towering over him; something about it felt strangely magical, though when he prodded at it with his powers, it didn’t respond.

A noise.

Toon whipped around, realizing he wasn’t alone.

A man, dressed in a white gown that resembled that of Runestadt’s court magicians, stepped forward. His voice trembled—not from fear, which was the usual reaction Toon would receive from strangers at first glance, but from awe. “Welcome, venerable and noble heroes,” he professed. “We have been praying for your arrival for many years.”

Hero...es…?

Toon had been called many things during his time as a demon lord: monster, abnormality, leader, and occasionally “a friend.” But he wasn’t a hero. Moreover…?

“Again?”

Toon realized he wasn’t the only person standing next to the giant tree; there were five others, each displaying various levels of confusion. The one who’d spoken was a brunette, decked in regalia that made her look like a cross between a pirate and the commander of an army; as she crossed her arms over her chest, the woman glared at the sky.

“Again,” she said, though this time, it was less furious and more weary. “Saving my ex-fiance who banished me wasn’t enough. You make me do this again.”

Toon sympathized. He was tired of working hard himself; he’d _just_ gotten his kingdom to flourish, and then…?

“Heroes!” boomed the...priest? Magician? He made a sweeping gesture at the other people surrounding him; servants, if Toon was guessing correctly. It seemed like they had been summoned inside a castle. “Had we known that so many noble-hearted ones would answer our call, we would have prepared further accommodations. I am ashamed to ask for you to wait, but if you could follow me, I may inform you of your sacred duty as my lord returns from his hunting trip.”

Another one of the “heroes,” as the man had deemed them, bounded to his feet. “Sounds like fun,” he commented with a grin. For some reason, he seemed to have a particular fixation on Toon’s horns (which were _natural,_ thank you very much). “We can all get acquainted on the way, too. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t know anyone here.”

As the majority of their entourage scurried away to make whatever preparations for them, the priest approached them. “I am Percius, the Chief Priest of our land,” he proclaimed solemnly. “On the behalf of all of Drosscora, I thank you for answering our call.”

Toon faintly overheard the violet-haired girl mutter under her breath, “Not like we had much choice.”

“Drosscora is in great danger,” Percius informed them. While Toon knew better than to think of the people he met as “fictional” or anything of the sort, the priest was sounding _very_ generic NPC. Briefly, he wondered if this was to be his fate: saving the world, being plucked up by a ray of light, and moving onto the next. It was a depressing thought, and he quickly shoved it away.

“Due to followers of Ehra, the God of Chaos, the world has become unbalanced,” the priest explained. “Because of this, each year brings a new calamity to the land, and they are growing worse and worse. Our almighty Goddess has protected us so far, but we fear that as time goes on, there will come a day when we face a calamity the world will never recover from.”

“Your Goddess?” parroted the brunette from earlier. “If she’s so powerful, why can’t she just...rebalance the world herself?”

“It saddens our benevolent Goddess greatly, but she can not interfere directly in our human affairs. That is why she has brought you—not just one, but _six_ of her champions to save us all! Our benevolent Goddess is still watching over us...”

Thankfully, before the priest could launch into another long set of exposition, a servant came rushing to him and whispered in his ear. His face brightened.

“Your accommodations have been prepared, oh great heroes!” he proclaimed loudly, as if they weren’t standing directly in front of him. “Our lord shall return soon enough, so I entreat you to enjoy the luxuries of our fair land. The spirits shall escort you, as I have been called upon.”

_Spirits?_

As if to answer Toon’s silent question, glowing, tiny golden sparks lit up their path, leading to someplace outside of the...courtyard...place they were standing in.

"Thank you," spoke up the shortest girl in their midst; unlike the majority of them, who donned bold shades of scarlet or violet, she was dressed in sky blue garbs. Possibly not a warrior, then, though her cerulean staff suggested otherwise. The priest had already vanished, though, and the six of them were surprisingly left standing alone.

They exchanged glances, nobody willing to make the first move. Finally, the violet-haired swordswoman huffed, shrugging off whatever strange contemplative mood she’d fallen into. “Well, might as well go along with it,” she said, striding over to where the golden spirits were waiting. “You all coming?”

The brown-haired male—the same one who’d been eyeing his horns earlier—was the next one to follow, and then they were all off.

Their walk to whatever chambers the spirits were leading them to wasn’t particularly awkward, contrary to Toon’s expectations. While there was a lingering air of confusion and distrust, to an extent, it seemed like all six of them adapted fairly quickly. Though they strolled along in silence, he didn’t particularly feel any burning gazes or looks of hatred that his appearance would usually garner.

“Hey,” someone said, tapping on his shoulder. The contact abruptly jerked Toon out of his thoughts.

“Yes?” he asked, his voice a low growl.

Ah, he didn’t mean to sound that intimidating. Unfortunately, his skill at striking deals with unflappable powerhouses who ruled countries didn’t really translate into socializing skills with less formidable folk. (That wasn’t to say that the people surrounding him felt unimpressive: far from it, really. Toon was beginning to understand why they’d all been deemed heroes.)

It was that cheery guy again. “Looking at those horns, are you a demonfolk?”

The rest of their group was listening. The violet-haired girl had tensed, her hand inching ever so warily towards her sheath. The white-haired male—who’d so far been silent—didn’t even bother hiding his curious glance. The two brunettes—the ponytail one and the one with the bun—at least tried to appear like they weren’t paying attention to the conversation.

“I was my world’s demon lord,” Toon replied truthfully. “But—”

_Just because I’m a demon lord, it doesn’t mean I’m evil,_ he had meant to say, but his conversation partner’s grin just widened. “So my suspicions were right!” he exclaimed. “I thought you felt like Sei, my old pal.”

“Your...old pal...felt like me?”

“Oh, he was the Demon Lord of my world,” the guy said breezily, waving it off. “One of my closest friends. Well, I consider him to be my best friend; he probably thought of me as a nuisance on some days, but I like to think he considered me a friend in the end.”

“You were friends with a demon lord?” Curiosity, though oddly no judgment, shone in the white-haired hero’s eyes as he butted in. “How did you even meet him?”

“Oh, you know, the usual stuff. Got hit by truck-kun, woke up in a different world, and suddenly I’m tasked with defeating the big bad boss who’s going to destroy the world.”

They’d all stopped.

“Did you say...a truck?” Toon asked slowly.

“Ah, sorry,” the guy apologized, laughing. “Bad habit of mine. Long story short, I had lived a different life before the one I had in this body, and it’s a rather common fictional troupe...and by that, I mean a conventional literary...wait, did your world even have books…?”

“You’re talking about Earth,” said the violet-haired swordswoman, who thankfully had stopped touching her sword. She was too busy staring at their companion in shock. “You…you were reborn?”

“Wait,” Toon said, caught off guard. It was a miracle he was able to put together a coherent sentence. “You’re from Earth, too?”

That statement quickly led to the entire group erupting into a cacophony of shocked cries and disbelief.

“Too?!”

“Wait, but _I’m_ from Earth.”

“I was too!”

“Can it be…?”

“...we’re all from Earth?”


End file.
